


Hemiparasitic Greenery

by astralelegies



Category: Free!
Genre: Cheese, Christmas Fluff, Fluff, Fluffmas, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, Mistletoe, seriously someone should ban me from writing cheese at midnight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-26
Updated: 2015-12-26
Packaged: 2018-05-09 11:19:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5537951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astralelegies/pseuds/astralelegies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rei grudgingly agrees to go along with one of Nagisa’s schemes to matchmake Haruka and Makoto, thinking it’ll be the end of any mischief the day has to offer. Little does he know there may yet be some unforeseen matchmaking mischief in store for him as well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hemiparasitic Greenery

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was a purely self-indulgent excuse to write about mistletoe mishaps in the world of gay swimming anime. Take it as you will, and I hope that regardless of whether or not you celebrate Christmas, it was a lovely day for you.

By this point in his life, Rei thought, he should probably know better than to go along with any of Nagisa’s schemes. 

“Come on, Rei-chan, it’ll be _fun_!”

“Nagisa, the last time you said that I got called into the principal’s office for the first time in my life.”

“Is that including that day last month when you were sent there to be commended for your academic excellence?” Nagisa batted his eyes innocently. 

Rei’s reply was to cross his arms in defiance. “I won’t do it, Nagisa.”

“You don’t even know what it is yet.”

“Nothing good, I suspect.”

Nagisa began giving him the innocent puppy routine and Rei felt his heart sink. _Damn_. For as of yet unfathomable reasons, he was seemingly incapable of holding out against this particular method of Nagisa’s, and in the face of such _embarrassingly_ well-targeted persuasions it took less than a minute for him to give in. 

“Fine,” he grumbled, “what exactly did you have in mind?”

Nagisa grinned wickedly and held up a few boughs of leafy green shrubbery. 

Rei contemplated the plant a few moments. “I do not understand.”

“Mistletoe,” the other boy proclaimed enthusiastically. 

“I gathered that, but what does it have to do with your nefarious plotting?”

“Well,” he started, “according to Christmas tradition, if two people should find themselves underneath some mistletoe, they are required by the natural laws of the universe to kiss.” 

_Oh god_ , Rei thought, _this is not going to end well._

“But…you don’t celebrate Christmas,” he said.

“Not religiously,” agreed Nagisa, “but it’s the spirit of the thing that counts. Christmas means spreading love and happiness to everyone! And in this case, that can be accomplished by getting Haru-chan and Mako-chan to kiss so they can finally admit their feelings for each other.”

Rei frowned. “That sounds like a highly inadvisable idea.”

“But just think about it. If Haru-chan and Mako-chan continue to deny their emotions, it’s very likely to create tension between them. And then that will influence how they swim, and then our team will be ruined, and then we won’t get to swim the relay at nationals!” 

“You could be right about that part,” Rei contended.

“I’m always right,” said Nagisa. 

All the blatant inaccuracy of that statement aside, Rei supposed he had a point. If there were to be any kind of friction between Makoto and Haruka, it would tear the team apart, which would mean losing the tournament for sure. And all of them had come too far for that to happen.

Something needed to be done. 

“I’ll help you,” he declared, “though I really don’t see how a few sprigs of obligate hemiparasitic foliage are supposed to compel that sort of…intimacy…by their mere presence.”

Nagisa gave him a disparaging look. “Rei-chan, you have no sense of romance.”

“I do indeed,” Rei sniffed, offended, “I just don’t see why both logic and the beauty of love can’t go hand in hand.”

“Rei-chan, for someone who’s so smart, you don’t know anything.”

“Hmph. Let’s proceed to the part where we’re putting this plan in motion.”

The method Nagisa would use to ensnare their two teammates appeared solid enough, Rei had to give him that. They hung the mistletoe so that it trailed conspicuously down from the doorframe of the front entrance to Haruka’s house. He and Makoto were out doing extra training, and would likely walk home together, ensuring the success of the venture. After the vegetation was planted Nagisa insisted on dragging Rei into a nearby bush to wait. 

“This feels invasive,” he protested. 

“We have to know if it works,” insisted Nagisa, “Now quiet, I hear them coming.” 

“…gather the others together and practice our exchanges.” Makoto stopped short. “Haru, did you put that there?”

Through the surrounding foliage, Rei could see him point at the mistletoe. 

“First I’ve seen of it,” said Haruka.

“It’s a very particular plant.”

“Oh?”

“In some places mistletoe at this time of year is supposed to induce kissing.”

Haruka moved closer to inspect it. “That seems unlikely.”

“I have no idea how the tradition got started,” Makoto said, “though I do have one about who might have put it up there.”

Rei looked at Nagisa, who just shrugged apologetically. _Subtlety has never been one of his virtues._ Although, Rei thought, the same was more or less true for him at times. Beauty was not always synonymous with delicacy, even if his personality was rather less bold than his aesthetic tastes. 

He noticed that Makoto and Haruka were standing much closer together than they had been previously, and almost directly beneath the mistletoe at that. He was also painfully aware of his proximity to Nagisa, the warmth of the other boy’s arm against his own. 

“So,” said Makoto, “here we are.”

“Yes.”

“I suppose you’ll be wanting to get inside.”

“Yes.”

Neither boy moved. Haruka leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on Makoto’s lips, and the latter let out a sound of mild surprise that was almost a squeak. Rei turned his head away out of modesty.

“We shouldn’t be here,” he hissed.

Nagisa had stars in his eyes. “But Rei-chan! They actually did it!”

“Which is something that is very much between them and none of our business.”

“Keep your voice down or they’ll hear us.”

Makoto and Haruka had pulled apart. 

“Well.”

“Yes.”

Makoto laughed lightly. “I think that was a bit overdue, to be honest.”

“Mm.” Haruka looked up at the overhanging boughs. “And it only took some leaves and a bizarre foreign tradition to accomplish it.”

“Speaking of which,” said Makoto, “I believe I might know someone else who could benefit from this dubious magic of plant life.”

“Mm?”

“I believe I’m getting an idea.”

~

Nagisa insisted on staying in the bushes until Makoto and Haruka had vanished completely. Afterwards Rei was so busy listening to his boasting about the success of the plan that he failed to notice they were en route to Nagisa’s house until they were halfway up the front steps. He stopped.

“I should really be going.”

He turned to leave, but Nagisa grabbed his hand. The sudden contact made Rei’s cheeks heat up, though he didn’t know why. Nagisa pointed at the doorway.

“Looks like someone got here first.”

It was the mistletoe they’d hung at Haruka’s house. Rei’s blush deepened.

“I…I…” he stammered, “I shouldn’t be here. It’s late.”

“It’s not.” Nagisa grabbed his other hand, pulling him closer. 

Rei drew in a shaky breath. A second later Nagisa was kissing him. After a few moments of confusion Rei broke away. Nagisa looked down.

“I’m sorry,” he said, “I didn’t mean to…

“No!” Rei interrupted quickly, “It’s not…it isn’t…it isn’t you. I…it’s my fault, I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize to me.” Nagisa appeared genuinely concerned. “What is it?”

“Textbooks are so much easier than people, you know.” Rei pushed up his glasses and sighed. “Theorems and equations, diagrams and proofs, they have an elegance to them that transcends spoken language. That kind of beauty I can understand. But when it comes to the matter of interaction between people, to matters of the heart…I can pretend all I like, but it doesn’t keep me from feeling hopelessly lost sometimes.”

Nagisa put a hand on his shoulder. “There’s no need to be afraid. You’re safe with me.”

“But I do not know how to be beautiful with you.” Rei looked away. “I want to be—more than anything, I realize now—but…I don’t know.”

He felt Nagisa’s fingers brush against his cheek, guide his head until they were looking each other in the eyes.

“But you _are_ beautiful, Rei-chan, with me and without me,” he said, “I can’t begin to tell you how much. And maybe together…we can make this beautiful too.”

“Nagisa, I…”

He didn’t get to finish his sentence because Nagisa was kissing him again, carefully, and Rei thought that perhaps it would be a good idea to attend to that.

_Together we can make something beautiful._ He smiled. _I believe we will at that._


End file.
